Making a Difference With Spare Change

Every year, hundreds of employees at the leading-edge CSL Behring manufacturing facility in Marburg, Germany, have taken part in an initiative to pool the spare change from their paychecks and make a donation to charity that is doubled by the company.

All those extra pennies definitely add up. When it was all said and done last year, 10,000 Euros (12,400 U.S. dollars) were set aside for the Parent Initiative, a Marburg organization that provides support to parents of children with leukemia and tumors.

Marion Gruendel from the Parent Initiative told Vita she was “overwhelmed” by the donation and it comes at a critical time for the group.

“In the past year, the number of families we are supporting has nearly doubled,” she said. “So we literally need every cent.”

The program is currently in its ninth year. Participating employees hold an annual vote to decide which organization will receive their donation and have recently selected group’s focusing on children’s health.